The next day Ben got up early. He was at his physical and mental peak. He was expected to make another patrol around the area. But today he had to get ready for combat. Ben was going to explore the various resource points and also, he was trying to find out some animals whose parts can be of benefit to him.
He began his exploration while recollecting the information he received from Vishok and Mahaansh. ' There are mainly prosimians and trava lupis in this area. One would think that trava lupis are the threat. But Vishok said the real threat are the prosimians. Their limb structure similar to marthyas make them extremely dexterous. The Qon Prosimians are especially problematic. They are extremely sadistic in nature and will kill for fun. Other prosimians will at most throw some attacks at you, without killing you. But the Qon Prosimians actually likes to see blood. Man such a sick creature.
The greatest problem is that I have to seek out these creatures. Their energy core contains a large amount of life energy which can help me a great deal. They would have been extinct due to excessive hunting if not for the fact that their energy cores can only help till the lord stage and also is very difficult to absorb. I don't know how I am going to kill those savage creatures.
Next comes the trava lupis. It is the territory of these beasts. It is said that the trava lupis and the prosimians have a symbiotic relationship. But the Qon Prosimians are the enemies of the trava lupis. Maybe that is a loophole I can utilize. But I have to be careful about trava lupis as well. Their pelts and bones have demand in the market. Well I won't kill them unnecessarily.
The most important plant species I have to search for is the 'Ratherai'. These plants actually have energy that that is extremely close to the shamanic energy. The flower, leaves, stem and roots of that plant can be used by a shamanic martial artist to enhance his power directly. It is only rumoured that the plant is here in this forest. But the conditions for the plant to grow are extremely stringent. It has only been sited 5 times during the past 2000 years in this forest. Vishok said that even if it is a slight chance I have to take it. I have to look for gloomy places, where darkness permeates even when it is high noon.
Other plants include 'Pikelai' which is used for light and energy based martial artists, 'Marech' a plant used as a poison and a hallucinogen, 'Surcasin' a sweetening agent said to taste like gourmet from heaven and so on. I have somewhat memorized the appearance of the plants. Well I have to explore the area.'
Thinking abut these he began to explore the area nearby the camp first. Then he thought about the incident from the previous day. Thinking about his cringy response, he tried to hide himself with this shirt, imagining it to be his shell.
As he was exploring, he sensed something. Unknown to him the sensing powers of aether lupis was being activated within him. He was gradually sensing the space time continuum around him, the causality around him, the entropy around him. But all these were very vague and often came in the form of lucid dreams or premonitions. Right now he was having such a moment. He did not know what it was or where it was. But he could sense that something or someone was watching him. Then, suddenly, the feeling vanished. Ben looked around. Then as though he felt it he looked at a particular direction in the sky. Seeing that nothing is there he just went his way.
Right as Ben went away, in the air where he looked a person materialized. He was tall and thin, with six thin swords around him pointed downward. He had a tanned skin and black hair. His hair and beard were well trimmed and neat. His face was also calm. But in his eyes, one could see the sharpness of a blade. Looking at Ben he said " To think that a beginner knight could feel my presence. Time sure does fly. I do need to see his growth. But you are not yet qualified for the young lady. I will forgive you once considering you are young." Then he vanished.
Ben walked in a circle near the camp first and then expanded his search. He did find some plants which were some what expensive here and there. Ben also spotted some animals and birds. Throughout the forest, there was an oppressive atmosphere. Every animal in the forest could feel the tension in the air. Some animals were ready to pounce at the opportunity, while some had already went into hiding. Some animals were in defensive mode, ready to defend their territory and young ones.
Ben covered the perimeter and got ready to expand his search. There was a marsh like place which was marked in the map, nearby which there was a rock formation. This rock formation, according to Vishok could be a place where expensive mineral deposit is found. It was just outside the area where he conducted his patrol.
Ben moved towards the area. He avoided most of the animals along the way. He reached the area uneventfully. Ben found the marshy area. He used his senses and found out that there was nothing there. He went near the rock formation. There also based on a preliminary scanning, he could not sense any danger. The area had an eerie beauty to it. He moved towards a large cave in the rock formation.
At first, he found nothing. Because Ben was a marital knight, lack of sight was not much of a problem when he entered the cave. He could not sense anything dangerous in the cave he gradually moved in. After going through the darkness, he saw light and moved towards it. He soon entered a clearing. It was expansive. It was filled with minerals called 'Quareka', something which produced light. But that was not the only property it had. It was also a superconducting crystal at room temperature and was highly sought after. Although there were artificially produced superconductors at room temperature, the naturally occurring ones had a charm of its own. It was used in many areas including quantum supercomputers, exploration space crafts, simulation machines etc. While it was not rare, it did fetch quite the cash.
From what Ben could understand this was a large deposit and what he was seeing was only a small part of it. Since he saw it, he was going to take as much as he can. He had borrowed expanded storage devices for this purpose. Ben had some equipment, but he decided to train his claw.
He used his energy claw to mine the mineral from the rock. He was also careful not to cause problems to the stability of the cave. At first it was difficult, but gradually he adjusted the strength and concentrated the aura just around his forearms and palms and began to work. Unknowingly, he was also circulating it internally, strengthening his muscles, bones, ligaments etc. It also helped in the expansion of penetrated meridians, pushing it its penetration rate to 81 %. He worked for about 5 hours and mined about 150 kgs of mineral. Then he sat down and had an energy drink and restored his energy to its peak. He also meditated for a while to restore his aura. Even inside the cave, he could restore the shamanic aura much more efficiently than his city.